The River is an elder-led church. Elders at The River are called by God to shepherd and lead the local church. They meet regularly to establish direction of the church, discuss theology, and lovingly disciple people at The River.
We believe that the scripture is clear that Elders lead the church. We also believe in the scripture the office of elder is the same as what we call pastors today. In the scriptures we do not find pastors who are paid to do the work of the church, however we do find elders, some who are supported by the church and some who are not, who lead the local church body. Therefore at The River we consider pastors to be elders and elders to be pastors. Some of our pastors are compensated by the church and some are not. They all however share equally in the responsibility of leading the church.
Our Leadership